It has taken me a few days to calm down to a point where I can make a reasonable post about this, so here goes. As you would probably be aware, there was another series of bombings in London the other day, luckyily these didn’t explode properly and didn’t cause much damage. Anyway, this happened on Thursday night Canberra time, during Stargate Atlantis, and as such, Channel 7 had to interupt Stargate for a news update. I have no problem with that, I just have a problem with the way they did it, there was no warning whatsoever that this was a news bulletin, instead this is what happened. Stargate was running as per usual, the show was at a fairly tense point and there was an ad break, so far so good, but then the ad break ended and I found myself staring at a Sky News feed with no explanation or warning. It took about two or three minutes before Sky actually explained this rather cryptic series of pictures and until that time, it felt like Seven had hit the wrong button.
It is something you see all the time on TV, somebody hits the wrong button and you are watching a movie screening in Adelaide for a few seconds. Usually these problems are fixed quickly.
I understand that at 11pm Channel Seven aren’t likely to have somebody in the newsroom, but I would have at the very least expected a “Seven News Update” intro or a message on the screen saying “Breaking News In London” or something like that. If Seven had done that, people would have known what was happening and wouldn’t have been confused, and I wouldn’t have been annoyed.
I’ll repeat, I have no issue with Seven interupting shows for important news stories, I think it is important, but I would like to see them develop a method which doesn’t confuse viewers or look like a mistake.
I got a rather nasty shock today when I read a story about a blogger who makes $10000-$20000 per month from google ads on his blog. I have been trying to convince myself that it simply isn’t possible to make money from blogs, my ads have netted me a grand total of $0.98 in a month and a half….some people are just plain lucky I guess.
It seems that the educated group of web surfers has increased to 8.71%, up from 8.00% in May. Microsoft’s poor excuse for a browser dropped from 87.23% in May to 86.56 in June.
That means that Firefox is up 0.71% and Internet Explorer is down 0.67%, which probably means that it isn’t just IE users switching to Firefox, but users of other browsers (Mozilla Suite, Netscape, Opera, etc) as well.
Since the start of Webstat monitoring for this blog, we have recorded: Mozilla Firefox 56.42% Internet Explorer 42.23% Apple Safari 0.68% Netscape 0.68%
At the end of each month I will bring you Webstat reports for the month, but if you can’t wait, you can always view the stats by clicking on the link on the right hand side of the page.
I’ll kick off this new feature by reposting an image you have seen before (saves me digging through files!).
This is a picture of me holding a cup of coffee in a room where Schnappi the little crocodile is singing (Prior to me coming to the realisation that there is a “c” in Schnappi). Also in this room is a clock chiming at 10am, a radio and photos of Telstra Tower, Parliament House, my house and Nattie.
Clicking on the picture will show a larger version, you can also find it on the photo gallery.
Basically, all you have to do is send them your bad artwork and the one they judge as the worst wins $2000. I have plenty of pictures I have drawn over the years that I could enter, but they require the original, and I don’t like to part with my art.
None the less, it is rather interesting and the end result should also be interesting.
I doubt that I will submit any of my artwork, but I might run a series of “Samuel’s Art” specials right here on my blog.
The Canberra Theatre Centre and Hutchison Entertainment (advertising at 7:30pm on Prime TV) are bringing Romeo & Juliet to Canberra…but there is an interesting twist to this version….I’ll let the Canberra Theatre Company say it: “featuring the most captivating and sensual nude scenes ever presented on a ballet stage.”
It must be the night of the nudists because SBS World News had some “lots of naked people running” thing as their top story, and then had an encore performance at the end of the news while they filled the remaining 30 seconds or so. I suppose that it is SBS, and nudity is no stranger to SBS, but Prime running an ad for nudity at 7:30?
The Canberra Theatre Company have some interesting seating arrangements for this nude play Babies under 3 years of age can sit on their parent’s lap FULL PRICE $79.90 PENSION – AGED / INVALID $69.90 GROUPS 10+ $69.90 SECONDARY STUDENT $69.90
I would have expected this to be in Fyshwick or Mitchell, but alas, it isn’t….not that it matters.
Not a plural this week, instead we have Glen Campbell, probably best known for this song
Rhinestone Cowboy I’ve been walking these streets so long Singing the same old song I know every crack in these dirty sidewalks of Broadway Where hustle is the name of the game And nice guys get washed away like the snow and the rain There’s been a load of compromising On the road to my horizon But I’m gonna be where the lights are shining on me *Like a rhinestone cowboy Riding out on a horse in a star spangled rodeo Like a rhinestone cowboy Getting cards and letters from people I don’t even know And offers coming over the phone Well I really don’t mind the rain And a smile can hide all the pain But you’re down when you’re riding a train That’s taking the long way And I dream of the thing I’ll do With a subway token and a dollar tucked inside my shoe There’s been a load of compromising On the road to my horizon But I’m gonna be where the lights are shining on me
My sources for recent post Lawsie Returns were almost correct.
He actually returns to work two days before they thought, so he will actually be returning to the airwaves on Monday July 25, which is two weeks before his 70th birthday, which will be on Monday August 8.
It is said that Canberra is a well planned city, this may be the case, but it does appear to have gone downhill lately.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking Nattie for a walkies to the GPO in Civic and then for an extended walk home which went up city hill and back through Glebe Park.
Allow me to inform you of the three places along the walk that annoyed me to some extent.
Firstly, we have one of the latest monstrosities to be built in Canberra.
Whatever happened to sensible buildings, why do they all have to have these bizarre “artworks” in front or on top of them. That weird metal structure doesn’t help the building stand up (although if it does then I hope I never have to go inside), it probably increased the cost of the building by some largish amount, and ultimately it looks completely and utterly ridiculous…..I guess it is in line with the exceptional ability some people have for designing and building the most ugly apartment buildings, but it is turning this beautiful garden city of ours into an eye-sore. If you want to see this strange structure for yourself, it is on the corner Bullumbir Street and Petrie Street, Civic.
The second piece of “well thought out” nonsense is up on City Hill. If you travel between Nourthbourne Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue in a southbound direction then you have probably seen this and don’t even notice. That carpark on the left hand side of Vernon Circle southbound is a good little stop off point for tourists who want to see the lovely part of Canberra (and the scenic views) that comprise city hill. Unfortunately, the spot directly opposite the carpark (assuming you can cross the road without being run over) where tourists would be likely to embark on the stroll up city hill is a mini cliff, which effectively makes tourists (and others) have a large stretch of the legs, or walk along the edge of the busy road around to Nourthbourne Avenue where such obstacles don’t exist. Why wasn’t this area brought down to road level like the rest of City Hill? Needless to say, Queen Dog-Dog Nattie the First was not impressed about this mini cliff.
This was unfortunately, the last photo I was able to take before the batteries died, so you will have to see the other bit of urban planning for yourself.
The third strange thing was in Glebe Park in the location where the playground equipment used to be (many moons ago). I am aware that this “artwork” has been in this particular location for many a year, but it is part of the very annoying habit the ACT Government have of putting Valuable Public Monstrosities in all locations that seem semi-vacant. Whilst they will be happy to inform you that it is “artwork”, I can assure you that these eye-sores are diverting precious funding from our hospitals and schools. About the only thing these VPMs are good for are canine liquid byproducts….Something Nattie would be proud to attest to. She is, after all, the “Twilight Dog” (Twilight being the name of a VPB that glows on Ainslie Avenue at taxpayer expense.)
Well, the One Day Internationals are over, and so is the Channel 7 coverage of cricket. Technically they didn’t cover any of it as they just sourced the cricket from Sky Sport and placed a bunch of people in a studio to make generic comments and announce that “South Australia are going to the news now.”
I must say that overall I was very pleased with the Channel 7/Sky Sport coverage of the cricket, the commentators were good, they knew what they were talking about and seemed interested in the game, which is more than can be said for the commentators over at Nine.
The Channel 9 commentators are a bunch of boring biddies. They sit there and tell you the same old stories year in year out. Tony Greig and Bill Lawry have the same old arguments year in year out. Heck, if it wasn’t for the fact they occasionally talk about the current game I would think it was a recording. Naturally they spend most of their time in broken record mode. Almost every catch is “the catch of the season”, and Bill Lawry insists on screaming “Got him…Yeah!” after every single wicket.
Regular readers of The Chronicle in Canberra would probably know that local media personality Rod Quinn said similar things about the channel 9 cricket coverage in his column in the late 90’s. Unfortunately, things haven’t changed in this time, there are a couple “new” faces, and Ritchie Benaud doesn’t host on his own any more, but ultimately the same old formula wins out each and every year.
Channel 9 also have a fetish for providing you with a lot of ads, not just between overs, but between balls. They are constantly trying to flog $500 (plus postage and handling) pieces of junk. Most of these items are bizarre line drawings with bits of paint splattered on them that, according to the channel 9 personalities at least, are “fantastic artworks depicting (insert semi-famous non-event here) by renowned artist (name of somebody nobody has ever heard of) , exclusive to the channel 9 cricket shop.”
A typical rundown of one of these ad break overs would be as follows: Return from ad break Commentator “Good delivery and a dot ball…Now here we have some artwork (blah blah blah blah blah)” Commentator announces that the batsman got a half century and continues with advertising “and it is by renowned artist……And it can be yours for only $599 plus postage and handling without a frame, or $699 plus postage and handling with a frame” Commentator announces third ball of the over and reads the score “It is a limited edition of 500, all are personally signed and numbered, call 1900 xyz xyz now for your copy of this limited edition, but hurry as they will sell fast” Commentator announces fourth ball of the over and declares that it was a “swing and a miss”. “You can also buy this fantastic artwork by (name) on our website (Veeeeery long URL) or visit (domain name) and click on about 20 links” “Oh, that was a good delivery…(score)” The commentator then recaps the important details of the picture or whatever other item they are trying to flog, announces the score at the end of the over and goes to an ad break.
It is worth noting that on most occasions, the item which was supposed to sell quickly is usually on offer again the next week with most of the limited edition still for sale.
Channel 9 also manage to ensure that any trivial event (usually a missed catch) is replayed and talked about ad nauseum for the next hour. It usually takes a couple overs for the current commentators to get over it, and then when the next batch of commentaors arrive, they have to talk about it……the bloke dropped the ball and wasn’t really going to catch it anyway, get over it!
Channel 7 haven’t stooped to such levels, their commentators haven’t managed to jinx every potential catch with the channel 9 line “Oh he can’t possibly drop this one, he is the safest catch on the field and…….OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH NOOOOOO, he dropped it, how did he manage that?”
In fact, it comes as no surprise to me that Sky Sport (who I believe cover cricket for most of the year) have a commentary team who are capable of covering the game, after all, these commentators do it all year, not just for a few weeks during the summer. I would personally be in favour of Sky Sport covering the Australian cricket season and selling free-to-air rights to one of the local stations.
I must, however, point out the two things that disappointed me about the Channel 7 coverage. My first minor complaint is that, due to cricket occurring on Thursday nights, it took the place of Stargate Atlantis, not to worry though, I got my dose tonight. My second, and much more potent complaint is Tony Squires. It has got me beat as to why Channel 7 hired the idiot in the first place, he is a pure, plain and simple pain in the neck who thinks he is funny. I can only assume that Bruce McAvaney was on holiday or didn’t want to be awake past midnight or something like that as he is truly the best sport commentator that Channel 7 have.
On that note, I hope that the AFL have learned their lesson, Channel 9 love NRL and have extended their contract, and in the process extended the number of games they will cover. Whilst I have no problems with more NRL on free-to-air TV, I do have problems with Channel 9 slotting in the AFL after two Friday night NRL games. Channel 10 have managed to uphold a sense of decency with the Saturday AFL coverage, but ultimately, nobody comes close to the professionalism and excellence of the Channel 7 AFL coverage. Lets just hope that the AFL don’t just blindly grab the highest bidder for the AFL TV rights, because if they do it will most likely end up in the hands of Channel 9 and Foxtel, whilst the new (and somewhat unofficially announced) partnership of channels 10 & 7 get left dangling a smaller wad of cash with better coverage.
It is no secret that since Channel 9 took over the AFL TV rights, AFL ratings and support in New South Wales have dwindled, this is because it receives no exposure on Friday night, very few people want to wait until midnight to watch a game of AFL, especially when it isn’t their favourite sport. Channel 10 have suffered as well, they have been trying to promote Saturday night AFL, but without the weeknight exposure, the Saturday night coverage has been a ratings disaster, which in turn makes Channel 10 less likely to run it at a decent time of the night because low rating programs don’t rake in advertising dollars.
Give the Channel 7 & 10 partnership the rights to the AFL and the game will flourish again. And thankyou to 2GB and 3AW respectively for providing such fantastic radio coverage of these sports…It wouldn’t be the same without you.
I look forward to more Sky Sport coverage of cricket (this time it is The Ashes tests) through SBS in the coming weeks. I wonder how Les Murray will go at cricket discussion, he is very knowledgable about most sports, so he should be fine….bring it on!
Ubuntu Linux are nice people, they ship Ubuntu CDs all over the world for free, it does take a little while for them to arrive, but my pack of 10 arrived today. I was certainly suprised to recieve a parcel from Switzerland….I’m almost certain that I don’t know anybody in Switzerland….none the less, a big cheerio to all the swiss people out there!
My sources are informing me that John Laws will take the golden microphone out of its case, give it a light dusting and then make good use of it for a return to the airwaves on Wednesday July 27.
linux.conf.au is the annual Australian Linux technical conference, and is one of the largest gatherings of users and developers of Free and Open Source Software in the Southern Hemisphere. It is an opportunity for developers and groups to present their ideas amongst peers, and for the Free Software and Open Source communities to gather in general.
The organisers of linux.conf.au 2006 would like to invite you to submit a paper for presentation at one of the world’s leading Linux community conferences.
Most presentations will be of a technical nature, but those covering legal, educational, organisational, community or similar aspects of open source software will also be welcome. Promotional presentations, commercial advertisements, sales pitches and their like are not appropriate for this conference.
Papers on the following topics are encouraged:
* The Linux kernel, filesystems and networking * Databases and storage * Programming languages and tools * Linux on the desktop: productivity, groupware and GUIs * Multimedia, audio, video, music and games * Security * Linux deployments, practical experience and war stories * Linux on unusual platforms: embedded systems, virtual systems, handhelds and very large systems * Distributions, management and standardization * Other open source projects
We are open to a broader range of topics as well, even non-Linux based projects. So, submit it to us anyway! Please note however, that all presentations must be based on ‘open source’ software and projects.
We have two (very different) main presentation formats: 120+ minute interactive tutorials and 50 minute seminars. You may also wish to participate in a miniconf, lightning talk, BOF session, or present a poster.
** Submission Guidelines
Abstracts are required for paper, tutorial and work in progress presentations. Abstracts should be up to 400 words and be submitted to the Paper Review Committee via the web page:
Submission requires pre-registration as an Author, providing the following information:
* Author’s full name (and preferred handle, if any) * Author’s complete email address * Author’s affiliation with commercial or relevant organisations * Author’s postal address * Author’s telephone and/or mobile numbers, with area and country codes. * Author’s short biography, in around 1 – 3 paragraphs. * Whether travel and accommodation assistance will be required
Abstracts and biographies should be submitted as plain text. The final paper should be submitted in an appropriate open format, such as 7-bit ASCII text, HTML, DocBook or LaTeX.
Any featured software in papers must be available under a licence compatible with the Open Source Definition[2]. Any papers that are accompanied by non-disclosure agreement forms will be rejected. All successful papers must be eligible for republication on-line and on distribution media given to conference attendees. linux.conf.au requires publication rights to accepted papers, including the publication of the audio proceedings as well as publication and reproduction rights to any video filmed during the presentations. These rights are non-exclusive. Copyright ownership is retained by the author. Submitting an abstract indicates understanding of and consent to these conditions.
In the event that you miss one of the deadlines we reserve the right to revoke any offer to present your paper. We take having the paper for the conference proceedings very seriously and late submissions place an undue burden on our formatting team.
** Travel and Accommodation Assistance
Some financial assistance is available for speakers’ travel and accommodation in cases of need. Please indicate in the appropriate place during registration as an Author if this is the case. Financial assistance may be withheld if final complete submissions aren’t received by the date specified above.
Dates to Remember:
* CFP Opens: Tuesday July 12, 2005 * Abstracts Due: Tuesday September 5, 2005 * Notifications by Review Committee begin: Wednesday September 20, 2005 * Final Complete Submissions Due: Friday December 1, 2005 * Conference begins: Monday January 23, 2006
Please feel free to forward this announcement to your local LUG, or any other person or group that would be interested!
